The 3rd Garage48 Hardware & Arts has officially kicked off in the ultramodern Physics Institute of Tartu University. This is actually the second time that this building hosts Garage48 H&A, said Jaak Kikas, head of the Institute of Physics. He noted that last year they had been worried about the consequences of the event, but as we all can see now, there was enough left over for the second event.

This is the
biggest H&A hackathon ever: this year the number of participants together with mentors and staff is around
200! The event is bringing together tech enthusiasts from all over the Baltics, and Denmark, Norway, Russia, Georgia, Columbia and the USA. Some returning,
some here for the very first time. Garage is half-Latvian like Lotte cartoons,”
noted organizer Priit Salumaa about the turnout.

So what are
they all doing here? They are engineers, designers, artists, team leads,
marketers and dreamers. They are creating multinational teams that are going to
give their everything in the next 48 hours to make ideas into working
prototypes. They are simulating a start-up team, some even becoming one on the
site.

So how are
we going to change the world this week-end? Check out these 20 awesome teams:

1)
Smart
Bubble, presented by Max who hates to freeze his face off in winter. A bubble
attached to the human head, uses heat from the body. Can integrate all kinds of
extra features, also connected to a phone. Money comes from air filters +
aroma.

2)
Smart
Health Monitor, presented by Jaanika, a fan of smart wearables. Stationary
device for home use that integrates with and gathers data from different health
monitors (blood pressure, blood sugar monitors etc.) and measures health
condition in general.

3)
E-Scape
+ Oculus ride. E-Scape, presented by Raul, an architect. Capsule with a
treadmill and virtual reality inside. Goal is to encourage physical activity
and thus improve health for people with desk jobs, it takes just 10 min in the
capsule. For offices and school buildings.

Oculus ride,
presented by Adam. A virtual reality module for the fitness bike that simulates
real experience. Cycling rift. To make fitness biking a more real experience.

4)
Mechanimo,
presented by Oleg who wants to build interesting things, but has grown out of
Legos. Modular construction kit that allows to build useful machines that can
be used as prototypes, prosthetics, robotics. Possibility to assemble a machine
in minutes, no coding necessary.

5)
Track
My Ride, presented by Kristofs form Latvia. An automated logbook, a solution
for tracking how a company car is used, who is driving & all the stuff that
usually you need to fill in a form whilst using a company car. Extra features
like if the car drives into a lake, it sends a SMS to your boss: “You need to
buy a new car.”

6)
Pilot,
presented by Richards. A self-driving plug-in device for the car: sensors, an
app, camera. Turns a regular car into a self-driving one.

7)
Traffic
Buzz, presented by Mart. A device that gathers traffic information and recycles
it for usage, the outcome is seeing how traffic is behaving in real time. In
ex. Advertisers can see how many people have seen their ad.

8)
Infusion
warmer, presented by Valter from the National Defence College. It’s a small
lightweight heater at the end of the infusion line, just before the cannula.
The point is warming up the fluid that goes into the body to avoid hypothermia.
For first responders, military medics and ambulance services who don’t have a
way to keep their fluids warm.

9)
M-Sap
Visualizer, presented by Egert, a device that processes sound into visuals. It
can be integrated with stage lightning & other devices that create a unique
show.

11) Keeni, presented by Ken, a master of
biochemistry who was often bored in theoretical lessons at school. Keeni is a
personal gene testing machine for students in biology class. Students can learn
by testing their own genes.

12) Devil Inc., presented by Kristjan. T-shirts
with LED screens that show advertisements, the wearer gets paid for it.

13) Intervallomeeter, presented by Jaak, a
nature photographer. A device that takes photos every few minutes, but only
during sunset and sunrise with the best light.

14) LanguageBOOM / LanguageGadget, presented by
Kaia, a German teacher. A word explaining game consisting of a solid gadget in
the shape of a bomb (that might go off any second) and a free app to encourage
simple and efficient language learning.

15) Roundcounter, the killer app, presented by
Joosep, a cadet. A device that counts how many bullets there are left in your
cartridge magazine and displays the number on a screen.

16) Burger Queen, presented by Daniel from
Lithuania. A robot that helps make burgers.

18) False Radio Network, presented captain
Dieves. A device that sends out recorded radio signals that sound and feel real
in order to deceive and distract enemies giving them false information on our
location and activities.

19) Doorbell, presented by Kristiina. A
doorbell for apartment buildings that phones the (selected) occupants and also
produces a (one-way) video image of the ringer.

20) Tea machine, presented by Janis from
Latvia. Measures temperature, lowers the tea bag and takes it out at the right
time.

And those
who may not have gathered a team for this week-end, but are still worth
mentioning:

1)
Illuminated bubble level for professional
cameras, presented by filmmaker Edgars from Latvia. Put it on top of the
camera, you can see it and get your camera in level without a tripod.

3)
Smart sailing device presented by Vahur, a
sailor. A unique device that measures necessary parameters, calculates and
gives the sailor voice instructions. Helps beginners learning to sail, but also
professionals who want to be the greatest.

5)
Next Gen. Thermal Blanket, presented by Valter,
a nurse-instructor for War and Disaster Medicine. A thermal blanket made of
smart fabric that reflects heat and lets moisture out, possibly self-heating or
with ion-fluids. For medics, hikers, first aid kits.

19)
Lamp of arrival, presented by Frituf. A lamp
that lights every time someone arrives at the beach of Lesbos. To get a sense
of the mayor migration and possibly get some statistics.

And what are
they all working for? Of course, there are prizes. There’s going to be a best
tech prize, best design, best marketing and also special prizes from Microsoft,
Prototron, Estonian National Defence College and the Garage48 Hub.

But the
prizes definitely are not all. This event is about getting real start-up
experience, pushing one’s limits, making friendships, fulfilling dreams and maybe
starting working companies, here and now. Seems I’ve forgotten something… oh, yes,
it’s also about having FUN.Plus, tomorrow the teams can look forward to be mentored by these amazing expert mentors.